Talk:2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 10 January 2020 and 4 April 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): BrodyKRS. Peer reviewers: LOC2020.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 16:39, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

No longer ongoing?

As the nation-wide COVID-19 response these past couple weeks has basically precluded any further large gatherings in solidarity from occurring, and since the focus now is on how the clans will meet during the pandemic and what they will decide on the proposed agreement, I've been thinking about removing the "ongoing" status from the infobox, and changing tense throughout the article. A VICE article yesterday has this: "Demonstrations continued into early March, from the steps of the B.C. legislature to Quebec rail lines. Five more protesters who occupied a government office in Victoria were arrested on March 5. By the following week, when Canada’s chief medical officer advised against group gatherings, most blockades had come down." Obviously there is no definitive outcome yet, and another point in that article is that CGL construction is ongoing, but I feel like it is inaccurate to characterise the protests as ongoing, per se.James Hyett (talk) 16:40, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

If you want to put something more informative in the infobox, go right ahead. Something like 'Blockades removed; Negotiations underway' or 'on hold'. How does that sound? Alaney2k (talk) 19:22, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

Alright, that sounds good.James Hyett (talk) 02:03, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

It is still ongoing as of November 2021. Although it is mainly not covered in mainstream news. - Emilija Knezevic (talk) 15:10, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

While it's clear that resistance is ongoing on the yintah, I think the scope of the article will need to be expanded to refer to all resistance to the CGL pipeline through Wet'suwet'en in order to consider it "ongoing" in the infobox. As of right now, the article is primarily covering the period of continent-wide protests in early 2020, which are undeniably not ongoing, at least nearly not at the same level of intensity. There is a section for "further developments" which I've been meaning to update, since it includes some earlier coverage of the Wedzin Kwa' blockade and resistance but does not cover the recent arrests. I just haven't had a moment to do so recently.James Hyett (talk) 15:47, 30 November 2021 (UTC)

Thank you James Hyett and everyone else for your efforts in editing this article.

As you pointed out, the scope of the article is the protests and related developments in early 2020. The fact that the issue (protests, conflicts, injunction enforcement, arrests, solidarity protests, etc.) is ongoing is thus out of scope, as would be continuous updates to the section “Further Developments”.

Some other protest-related articles (like this) have another section in the date part of the Info Box, which could say: “March (May?) 2020 – Present”, but then that would affect the whole concept of the article, as the reactions, solidarity protests, etc. would also need to be updated with the ongoing developments. - Emilija Knezevic (talk) 04:59, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

References

Two articles or one?

The protests are clearly not over. While general demonstrations and road-disrupting protests went on a low burner through most of 2020 and 2021, they never stopped entirely. The rail-disrupting protests took a full hiatus from roughly a month before the first COVID shutdowns until the end of either the third or fourth wave (depending on specific province), just prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The new set of rail disruptions have not fully closed rail traffic, but have caused delays and the cancellation of half the scheduled Via passenger trains along some routes. This is already enough to cause significant rail problems, especially since Via has not yet restored a fully pre-pandemic schedule or workforce. (The current telephone hold times for Via Rail have reached two hours at times.)

We don't know yet whether the current protests will continue to simmer at this level, will grow, or will peter out. However, WP's coverage does have to demonstrate clearly that there is a significant gap (if only a gap in intensity) between the Dec 2019-March 2020 protests and the current uptick of protests almost exactly two years later. The original article identifies a sharp increase in protest *intensity*, not an actual beginning to the protests.

We should think about doing something simiilar in the coverage of the current protests. If we decide to keep one article (even for now), the title should be changed, and to some extent the structure of the article. A simple chronology won't really do justice to it, nor, really, just adding "ongoing" to the infobox. (I could do this next week, if agreed on, or alternately in the new year. It won't be the first major article I have significantly overhauled.) If we go to two articles -- and I think by the new year we will know for sure if it is warranted, I think it would be fair to identify Dec 2021 as the start of the new rise in intensity.

Thoughts? - Tenebris 66.11.165.101 (talk) 19:03, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

I think it is certainly more appropriate to expand the scope of this article, restructuring it slightly, rather than to create a whole new article. The through-line to all of the protests is the struggle at Wet'suwet'en. Perhaps it's worth really broadening the scope of this article to be about the whole conflict?James Hyett (talk) 14:16, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

I also think that it would be good to expand the scope of the current article. These have all been the same protests, with the same cause, the same goals, and the same participants. - Emilija Knezevic (talk) 02:07, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

A title along the lines of "Wet'suwet'en opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline" is what I'd suggest. It gets across the main focal point of all the action while not limiting the activities to Canada (there have been solidarity protests around the world) or a particular year (ie 2020). I don't think that title is exactly what it needs to be, but I suggest it as a jumping off point.James Hyett (talk) 14:24, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

I was hoping for a few more voices before I spoke up again. In the meantime, given the current suggestions, it might be appropriate to change the article title, if the scope is being broadened? Also (somewhat immediate) these protests are now being referenced by the Jan-Feb 2021 Ottawa protesters and their supporters ("Freedom Convoy 2022"), and are being used as a point of comparison. Traffic on this page might increase as a result. - Tenebris 66.11.165.101 (talk) 19:58, 4 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi. If the question here is related to the article title, I have given it some consideration and concluded that “Wet'suwet'en opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline” would be appropriate. I considered the term "opposition" compared to "protest", and concluded that opposition is a broader term. I also considered not having "Canada/Canadian" in the title and concluded that this would be proper, as Wet’suwet’en are a nation, and their opposition is directed at Canada and its actions. The need to broaden the scope now seems apparent. - Emilija Knezevic (talk) 19:39, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your consideration, Emilija. I'm going to try to get some attention on this discussion from the WikiProjects it pertains to, and see if we can get a bit broader consensus. James Hyett (talk) 20:15, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

I agree that the scope should be broadened to include opposition after 2020. 'Wet'suwet'en opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline' is a reasonable title. I think 'Coastal GasLink pipeline opposition' could also work, and would include a broader scope of activity. This would be similar to other article titles such as Dakota Access pipeline protests and Stop Line 3 protests. I generally favor broad titles, but don't have a strong preference here. Thanks Larataguera (talk) 02:17, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Requested move 8 April 2022

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. to move article (closed by non-admin page mover) Megan B.... ^{It’s all coming to me} till the end of time 13:50, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

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2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests → Wetʼsuwetʼen opposition to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline – I've tried to move it as per Talk page discussion, but get an error message telling me the new title "matches an entry (?!(User" James Hyett (talk) 15:00, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

This is a contested technical request (permalink). Kj cheetham (talk) 22:52, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

• The article also covers protests not involving the Wetʼsuwetʼen, though. 162 etc. (talk) 19:11, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

  I would personally oppose the suggested title per the above and per WP:CONCISE. RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:30, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

  I don't think this is the appropriate forum for discussing the proposal, please bring your comments to the talk page, we'd appreciate more input.James Hyett (talk) 22:19, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

• As per my comment above, I would suggest Coastal GasLink pipeline protests. This seems broader and more concise. Larataguera (talk) 23:40, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
• Oppose: The 2020 railway protests were a discrete event that is more than notable enough to warrant it's own article. Also the wet'suwet'en were not the only group protesting. I also oppose the alternate suggestion of Coastal GasLink pipeline protests, if the post-2020 developments are notable enough to get their article (and they might very well be) then this article should not be subsumed into it. That would be like merging Canada convoy protest into COVID-19 protests in Canada. CASalt (talk) 02:37, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

It might be reasonable to keep this article and still have an article for Coastal GasLink pipeline protests. I wouldn't be opposed to that. Is that what you are suggesting? Larataguera (talk) 17:09, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

Yes, I'm not opposed to that CASalt (talk) 01:38, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

I can get behind having two articles - and I think it's in line with the discussion in the section above. I think I would prefer to use the word "opposition" rather than "protests" because it should encompass the court proceedings and more long-term actions happening on Wet'suwet'en territory (variously described as "land defense" or "blockades").James Hyett (talk) 14:26, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.